


Catharsis

by lavenderjacquard



Category: Naruto
Genre: Cats, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Super Strength Sakura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22582081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderjacquard/pseuds/lavenderjacquard
Summary: Three days after Kakashi left for his mission, the cat showed up.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Catharsis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crunchysunrises](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crunchysunrises/gifts).



The midnight air seeping through Sakura’s open window was humid and thick, making it difficult to sleep. The textbook on her lap about human anatomy was even heavier, and while it normally did the trick to knock her out, her mind still raced with anxious thoughts. Even though Kakashi was one of the best shinobi, on a level matched by few, she still worried about him when he went on a mission. He’d said it was in the Land of Iron and little else, then kissed her on the forehead and vanished. Wherever he was now, it felt so far away from her cramped but tidy apartment.

Sakura blinked and shook her head to regain her focus.  _ The ascending aorta, yes, diameter normally 2.1 centimeters… _ She yawned, exhaustion weighing down her limbs, but her thoughts kept blurring the words on the pages. 

_ We know so little about the samurai up there...But it’s a diplomacy mission, nothing to worry about. _

She hated sleeping alone, though.

Suddenly the windowsill rattled and Sakura jumped; the textbook fell to the floor with a thud. Her eyes darted to the window and she assumed a wary stance, prepared to fight even if the only weapon within reach was a pen.

But it was only a cat, perched on the windowsill like it belonged there. Sakura sighed, adrenaline draining out of her fingers.

“Go away, I don’t have any food for you.” She collapsed on the bed and reached down to pick up her textbook.

The cat meowed as if it thought she was lying.

“I don’t!” Sakura put on a menacing face and waved her hand in the cat’s direction. “Shoo!”

It cocked its head and appeared amused. The cat looked too healthy to be a stray; it had pristine white fur and bright green eyes that almost glowed brighter than the moonlight.

“Someone’s out looking for you, haven’t you thought of that?” For a moment Sakura was embarrassed that she’d found herself talking to a cat.

It licked its paw and rubbed its nose.

Sakura scratched her own nose thoughtfully. She always liked animals, but never kept her own because she didn’t think she had the time to care for a pet. This cat seemed like it could take care of itself, though, and she found that admirable.

“Fine, you get one mackerel and that’s it,” she said, rising to her feet and walking to her refrigerator. After pinching one cold fish from the pile she was planning on cooking for lunch, Sakura turned to find the cat sprawled on her pillow, licking its foot and purring.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

The cat looked up and yawned, revealing rows of sharp white teeth.

Sakura rolled her eyes and tossed the fish on the floor. “You’re not eating that on my bed.”

The cat leaped off the pillow and pounced on the fish. It gnawed on the meat, swishing its tail.

She flopped back down on her bed and picked up the textbook, returning to the aorta, but after she finished one paragraph the cat was back on her pillow, kneading the fabric. It curled into a ball next to her cheek, and she felt the purring vibrate through her skin.

Sakura groaned. She didn’t want to imagine what disgusting things this cat had been traipsing through or what nasty things it had eaten. But the cat’s purring was hypnotic and its fur was so soft and warm, and soon the book slipped from her fingers and they were both snoring.

* * *

Two days later the animal seemed like a permanent fixture.

The cat, which Sakura determined was male, was named Yuki after the snow his fur mimicked. It felt fitting, since Kakashi would be knee deep in it at the Land of Iron. She gave him a shiny red ribbon to wear around his neck, complete with a little silver bell that reminded her of their earliest training exercises. It made her smile every time she heard it ring.

Sakura made an effort to look for posters pleading for help finding a white cat, but found nothing. Part of her was glad. Though she kept her window open and let Yuki wander as he pleased, he was always curled up at the back of her head in the morning and sitting on her chipped kitchen counter when she returned from work.

Yuki seemed to think he was a prince among cats, though. He’d weaseled his way into her pantry before she even woke up that first morning, and turned up his nose at the dry pellets she bought for him. He also claimed the middle of her pillow, forcing her to sleep at the edge of her bed. She didn’t mind, though, because it was nice to sleep next to something warm and hear the faint sound of breathing, even if it came from a small and furry animal rather than Kakashi’s smooth skin and broad chest.

“You can stay here for now, but when Kakashi comes back, your free rent is up,” she threatened, but Yuki merely licked his paw.

Kakashi claimed he preferred dogs to cats. He liked that they did whatever he asked. Sakura teased that Kakashi didn’t like cats because he was so similar to them; always disappearing and showing up late and pretending not to listen to what she was saying. He acted offended and avoided her touch, further proving her point.

She didn’t tell anyone about Yuki just yet, because she wanted to keep the secret for herself. Ino would want to come over and coddle him, and Tsunade would wrinkle her nose and demand that Sakura make sure there was no cat hair on her clothes before going to the hospital.

The anxious thoughts about Kakashi still came, and though their intensity remained they were less frequent. Instead Sakura focused on Yuki and what he was doing at the moment and if he’d like shrimp for dinner since there was a sale at the market. She even found a book on cat anatomy at the library and sat with Yuki at night poring over the diagrams instead of studying the human heart. Maybe she’d have to treat a ninja cat someday, so she didn’t think it was a total waste.

“Yuki, did you know that each of your ears has thirty-two muscles for directional hearing?”

Yuki twitched his ear as if to demonstrate, and bumped her nose with his head.

* * *

Sakura returned to her apartment at the brink of dawn, dead on her feet. Tsunade had kept her for a long and tedious operation on an ANBU ninja’s hand; the delicate muscles and fragile bones took hours to repair and strained her eyes. A headache raged in her skull. She closed the door and barely made it to the kitchen before sinking to the floor in exhaustion. Even the simple goal of making herself a cup of tea seemed insurmountable. 

Two weeks had passed since Kakashi left for his mission, and Sakura was not handling it well. She’d gotten spoiled because he wasn’t assigned missions as often as he was before the war, and he was needed in the village to help organize repairs and keep Naruto in line with his diplomatic training. Maybe it was because she’d messed up a simple formula for medicine and caused a small explosion, resulting in an even bigger eruption from Tsunade, or that Ino made an offhand comment about her new shoes that irritated her, but Sakura wanted to punch the wall, or cry, or both.

If Kakashi were there, he’d stroke her hair and let her cry on his shoulder and not say anything, because he knew the best thing to do was listen and not scold her like he did when he was her sensei. When she was finished he’d hoist her off the floor and make her a cup of tea and tell her that even the worst problems seemed smaller after a nap. She always rolled her eyes at the simplistic approach, but he was right.

Still, hot tears streamed down her face, and the only person there to wipe them away was herself.

Something bumped her hand and Sakura looked down to find Yuki, green eyes glistening in the darkness. He sat beside her and meowed, as if asking her a question.

“Oh, Yuki, I miss Kakashi. But I’m glad you’re here,” she said, and scooped up the cat. She pressed him to her chest and rested her cheek on his head, feeling his purrs vibrate against her ribs.

Sakura stood and walked over to the bed. She set Yuki down and laid down beside him, curling her knees into her chest; the cat nudged his way into the crevice between her thighs and stomach and curled into a tiny ball. He squeezed his eyes shut and rested his tail on his nose. The cat seemed so untroubled and serene that Sakura smiled.

It was hard not to feel alone when Kakashi was gone. She’d spent so much of her life with Team Seven, and now that Naruto was off training in the wilderness for six months and Sasuke was...somewhere, the only person she had left was Kakashi. There were points in time where she’d thought she’d lost them forever, and even though the violence and bloodshed was finished, there was a remnant of that fear creeping down her spine like smoke.

_ It’s fine, I’m fine, it’s not like he’s leaving forever. And I can’t go falling to pieces every time he’s gone. _

Sakura knew it was easier to fall apart instead of holding herself together on her own, but that wasn’t what she’d trained herself to do all those years. She’d pushed her mind and tore up her body to be strong, not to crumple in weakness.

She took a shaky breath and looked down at Yuki. He’d buried his head against his paw so that his chin was exposed, and Sakura scratched it with her pinky. Yuki’s tail swished. Wherever he’d been before, he didn’t seem worse the wear for it; his mannerisms now seemed completely the same as when she’d first found him perched on her windowsill.

“If you did just fine on your own, I can too,” she said.

* * *

“Sakura, when’s the last time you saw Kakashi?” Tsunade asked.

“Two weeks ago. But isn’t he on a mission, Tsunade-sama?” Sakura responded, confused. She took away the stack of papers Tsunade had finished signing and replaced it with another stack.

“Yes, but it wasn’t a particularly dangerous one.”

“Well, if it’s a diplomatic mission to the Land of Iron, who knows how long that could take.”

Tsunade signed the last page and frowned. “Diplomacy, sure, but not in the Land of Iron. I sent him to speak with the daimyo.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “He...told me he’d be gone for a few weeks. In the Land of Iron,” she said, piecing together this new information with what she thought she knew.

Tsunade barked a laugh. “Nope! Sent him to butter up the daimyo for me. Should have lasted two days at most.”

“Why would he lie to me?” Sakura’s mouth felt dry. She stacked up the papers and bit her lip.

“He seemed pretty confident about it. Said he’d corner him like a cat.”

_ Like a…  _ Sakura gasped and the papers slipped out of her fingers, fluttering to the floor.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. “Sakura, are you-”

Sakura didn’t hear her finish because she was already out the door and sprinting down the hallway.

“Hey! You tell him to get me that mission report by tomorrow!” Tsunade’s voice echoed behind her.

Sakura was at her apartment in minutes, panting. She slammed open the door and found Yuki sitting on her bed, eyes wide, paws on something flat and white. And was that a hint of orange? Suspicions confirmed, Sakura seized a dirty mug off the kitchen counter and hurled it at the cat.

“Kakashi, I am going to  _ kill  _ you!”

Startled, the cat leaped out of the way and knocked the  _ Icha Icha _ book to the floor, but Sakura was at her bed in an instant and her fist connected with the furry belly, sending the cat flying out the open window and into the dumpster at the other side of her apartment complex. She saw a puff of smoke, and then Kakashi crawled out of the dumpster, a moldy banana peel caught in his hair.

“What the hell, Kakashi! You lied to me and Tsunade-sama!” Sakura snatched up the  _ Icha Icha _ book and chucked it at Kakashi, just missing his head.

Kakashi picked the trash off his clothes and brushed himself off. “I never took you for one to attack a defenseless creature, Sakura.” He crouched down to retrieve the book.

Sakura nearly hurled herself out the window. “You? Defenseless!?” She noticed that people had gathered at their windows to watch the spectacle. 

“Well, yes, all I had were my claws and my wits-”

“You ate my food and stole my pillow, all while you could have made yourself useful! Don’t even think of coming back here until you’ve cleaned yourself up and apologized to Tsunade-sama!” Sakura slammed the window shut and shattered the glass in the process. She threw her head back and moaned; the landlord would not be pleased.

Right when she turned around to assess the rest of the damage, Kakashi appeared at her front door, completely clean. 

“Ah, hello Sakura, as you can see I just got back from my mission-”

Sakura lunged forward but he caught her arm in time. “Well, well, that’s not the greeting I was anticipating-”

“What the hell was all this for, Kakashi?” She was seething.

“Well, if you’ll let me explain-”

Sakura wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “Explain what? What’s there to explain about running around playing a cat for two weeks?”

“Um, so-”

“I  _ missed  _ you, okay?” Tears were threatening to spill down her cheeks and she angrily swiped at her eyes. “Where were you when I needed you? 

“Technically, I was here-”

“No, you were here to sleep on my pillow all day and ignore your responsibilities!” The tears finally fell and she covered her eyes, embarrassed, swallowing the sob that was close to exploding out of her throat, but then his arms were around her and his fingers entwined in her hair. She didn’t want to melt into him and tried to resist, but he was so warm and comforting that she buried her head against his chest and felt the tension in her ribs recede.

“So  _ stupid _ !” The quiver in her voice was pathetic.

Kakashi kissed the top of her head. “I wanted to be the small one for once,” he murmured into her hair.

She sniveled. “What?”

“I’m always the one doing the holding. I wanted to know what it’s like.”

Sakura looked up and stared into his one visible eye, dark gray, and while it was normally unreadable there was something in the way the faint lines creased around it that made him look exhausted. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? Maybe there was a weight on his shoulders that she couldn’t see, one that he was too good at hiding.

She frowned, not willing to forgive him just yet. “And being a cat was the best way to go about it?”

“I…” He shifted to rest his chin on her head. “I guess I didn’t know how to explain it.”

A wave of guilt crashed through her. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Maybe I wanted to be held in your big strong arms, huh?”

She laughed weakly. “Well, I’m not gonna carry you around as a human,” she said.

Kakashi scooped Sakura into his arms. “I can keep that job,” he said, placing her on the bed. He laid down next to her and draped his arm around her stomach. She nestled into him and closed her eyes. The familiar pattern of his breathing eased the worry gripping her heart and the animosity drained out of her.

“You know, being a cat isn’t so bad. I think I’d like to be one in my next life,” Kakashi said.

“You’d be a mangy one on the streets.” Sakura rolled her eyes. 

“Well, I did get into a little scrap with this mean black one near the dumpster. Bet he thought I was after his girl.”

“Sure. Why a white cat, though? Strange color choice,” she said.

“The love interest in  _ Icha Icha Innocence _ had a white cat,” he said.

Sakura smacked his leg.

“Ouch, ouch! I’m weak after subsiding on fish for two weeks. And don’t tell Pakkun,” Kakashi said.

Sakura smirked. “Can’t promise I won’t.”


End file.
